


Save My Life

by madeinminhyuk



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Photographer, Alternate Universe - Prostitution, M/M, Photographer Hyungwon, Prostitution, im adding characters and and tags along the way, prostitute minhyuk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2018-08-22 19:04:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8296724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madeinminhyuk/pseuds/madeinminhyuk
Summary: Hyungwon screws up his portfolio just because he offended the model and he needs help.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> not proof read

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hyungwon's life is going haywire

Hyungwon finally escapes from the cold when he steps into the café that is just next to his apartment. He takes a sit at the table next to the window which has a familiar brown bag placed in one of the seats as he spots Kihyun collecting drinks at the counter. Once he settles down, he feels like crying again when the thought how screwed his portfolio is and how he is never going to pass his internship flooded back.  
“You are sooooo getting kicked out of the company.” Kihyun said as he placed his and Hyungwon’s ice Americano on the table and sat on the seat his bag previously occupied.

Hyungwon rolls eyes. “I asked you to help me Kihyun, not add salt to my wound.” Sighing, he picks up his drink, sucking on the straw furiously.

“Blame it on your shitty attitude. If you didn’t piss the model off, he wouldn’t have quit.”

“I didn’t want to raise my voice at him but he was doing such a shitty job! He didn’t pose the way I wanted and even if he did, the feeling wasn’t there. Didn’t expect him to be such a wussy and run away just because of that.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I can’t expect the boss to hire another of those expensive models for me. Why does that shitty model cost so much anyway?” Hyungwon shakes his head as he recalled how bad the model was. It was not worth the price. “He raged so badly and said I have to find and pay for another model myself.”

“And how are you planning to do that? You know you can’t even afford a newbie model. Let alone professional models who are willing to do a nude shoot.”

“Which is exactly why I asked you for help.”

“You know what, Hyungwon? My appearance may resemble a god, but I’m not a god. I can’t magically come up with a model for you. And don’t even try asking me for money, you know I’m as broke as you are.”

Hyungwon runs a hand through his hair and groans in frustration. “Why not you go naked for m –”

“Whoa whoa whoa hold up.” Kihyun puts his free hand in front of Hyungwon’s face. “First of all, I don’t ever plan to expose my entire body to you. _Ever_. Secondly, I don’t even have the body of a model. Are you really that desperate? Also, the only people who would be so willing to expose their bodies to you would be prostitutes and I’m not a pr –”

“Wait.”

“What?”

“Repeat what you said.”

“From the top or –”

“No the last sentence.”

“Only prostitutes are willing to expose their bodies to you?”

“Yes. Yes! That’s it!”

Kihyun shoots Hyungwon a confused look and his eyes were wide open seconds later after realising what Hyungwon had in mind. “You are _not_ hiring a prostitute to be your model.”

“Do you have any better suggestions then, Mr. ‘I have a face of a god’?” Hyungwon asks provocatively. Kihyun glares at Hyungwon silently, knowing that there’s no way to counter that.

“Thanks for giving me that idea. I owe you one once I get my portfolio done. Bye! Have fun in school.” Hyungwon ruffles Kihyun’s hair in gratitude and grabs his iced Americano, exiting the café.

 

-

 

Hyungwon starts to have second thoughts about the “brilliant” idea he came up with as he sat on his living room couch with a burning MacBook on his lap. He opens a new private window and fires the search engine, entering “male brothels in Seoul”.

He tries to divert his eyes away from all the visually shocking images that appear as he surfed through the first link that popped up in the search results. The webpage showed different brothels in different areas in Seoul and he decided that he should probably pick one that’s far away from his house and his workplace so that after he gets the job over and done with, he would most likely never meet the person he hires ever again.

 _Big Bunny Brothel in Yongsan_. Hyungwon laughs at the name that particularly caught his attention and clicks on the link. The place has a 4 out of 5 stars review. Not that it really matters to Hyungwon.

He types in the address that the webpage provided on his phone’s gps system and shuts his MacBook. He closes his eyes as he leans back onto the couch, contemplating whether it is really a good idea to hire a prostitute.

Prostitutes aren’t even _professional_.

His brain pictured a few bad consequences of proceeding with the plan and he decided that every of those consequences is as bad as losing a chance for this permanent job. And that was convincing enough for him to proceed with his plan.

“Ugh fuck it. It’s not like I have any other choice.” Hyungwon mumbles to himself as he makes his way to the toilet to prepare for sleep he definitely needs to survive the next day.

 

-

 

Time seemed to pass too fast when the next day comes and Hyungwon leaves his house at around 1 in the afternoon, feeling extremely anxious as to what he is about to do. He also had a hard time picking an outfit that says “I’m not here to have a good time. I’m just here to sincerely ask you for help that’s honestly not sex-related.”

It took a 30 minutes’ drive for Hyungwon to find himself parking in a carpark of a nearby shopping mall. He didn’t want his car to be spotted anywhere near a brothel so he decided he would rather walk down the street and past a few blocks to reach a sketchy alley where the brothel is supposedly at. He takes careful steps as he made his way down the alley, scanning his surroundings in fear that some psycho may attack him anytime. Halfway down the alley, his finds a door on his left and a pink neon sign above it that says ‘BBB’.

 _One last chance to back out, Chae Hyungwon_. He grips onto the door knob for an eternity before sighing and then twisting the door knob, pushing the door open.

The smell of cigarette and sweet citrus hits Hyungwon first as he stepped into the brothel, closing the door behind him. His nose wrinkles in disgust at the smell of the weird combination and he takes time to look around, absorbing the new environment he was in. The main hall is dimly-lit with just a few wall lights and red neon lights coming from randomly placed signs. The walls were painted black and red. The atmosphere of the place was not welcoming at all and as a first-timer, it has given Hyungwon a bad impression on prostitute houses.

He catches the attention of the receptionist with his footsteps and the latter plasters a fake smile, forcefully greeting Hyungwon as politely as he can. “Hi, welcome to BBB. May I know your name to confirm your appointment?”

“Appointment?”

 

“Yes, appointment. You have to make an appointment before meeting any of our workers here.” Hyungwon sees a hint of smile displayed on the receptionist’s face, as if he was laughing at Hyungwon for being such a…newbie.

“I…uh…didn’t make any appointment.” Hyungwon replied awkwardly, ashamed at how stupid he probably looks right now.

The receptionist sighs jokingly. “Looks like it’s your first time visiting such places, huh? You are lucky, there’s not a lot of customers currently so we have a few workers that are free. Next time you come, please make a call to book an appointment.” Hyungwon nods in acknowledgement, feeling more and more embarrassed. He felt like he’s in kindergarten all over again, getting scolded for not following instructions.

“Are you looking for anyone specific? Or do you have any specific requests?” The receptionist asks, typing something into the computer.

“Uh…actually I’m looking for the most…handsome one here?”

The receptionist smirks, looking away from his computer to focus on Hyungwon. “Well, I have one here that’s free till 3. But I have to warn you, he’s quite expensive.”

“How expensive?”

“We charge by hour here and he’s $300 per hour.”

Hyungwon mentally cringes when he hears the number 300. There goes his hard-earned money. “Most handsome here?” Hyungwon asks again for confirmation.

“Most handsome here.” The receptionist reassures Hyungwon.

Hyungwon sighs sadly. “Okay. I’ll book him for an hour.”

“Name?”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes. An order from the higher-up.”

“Chae Hyungwon.”

The receptionist nods in acknowledgement goes back to typing. “It’s 1.50 now. I’ll just give you till 3. Payment is afterwards. The guy right there will bring you to him.” He said, pointing to a buff man standing by the stairs.

“Thanks –” Hyungwon looks at the receptionist’s nametag. “Changkyun.”

Changkyun shoots him a genuine smile this time and the buff guy leads Hyungwon up to the stairs and down the hallway. The room he was brought to is the furthest room at a corner. Room 11.

Hyungwon stands behind buff guy as he knocks on the door and twists the door knob. “Lee, you have a walk-in client here. Until 3.” After a few seconds of peeking into the room, buff guy pulls his head out of the gap between the door and the room and turns his attention to Hyungwon. “You can go in now.”

After the buff guy left, Hyungwon remains outside and tries to keep calm down. He took a few deep breaths and made many attempts to brainwashing him.

_Chae Hyungwon you can do this. It’s no big deal right? You just ask him to be a model, he’ll agree and everything will go according to plan. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Ok, here we go._

He pushes the door open and he sees a man wearing a robe sitting on the bed facing the door while opening a pack of gum.

And Changkyun probably wasn’t lying when he said this guys guy right in front of him is the most handsome one in the brothel.

He has hair as white as snow that contrasts with the dark-coloured roots peeking out and it shines brightly under the sunlight that comes through gaps of the window that are not covered by the curtains. His face is as innocent as a child’s and there’s no way Hyungwon would believe that a man that looks like this would be working as a prostitute if they don’t actually meet in one.

“H-hi. I’m Hyungwon and –”

“Condoms and lube are on the nightstand. Toys are in the drawers if you want. I can top or bottom. Whichever you prefer. No weird stunts. No double penetration. No roleplaying. Definitely no filming. Oh, and I don't kiss.” The man says without looking up at Hyungwon, concentrating on unwrapping his gum.

“I...uh…I’m not actually here for…that.” Hyungwon says as he stands awkwardly at the door. At this point, he’s no longer sure what he’s nervous about – the fact that he’s in a brothel or the man in front of him.

Hyungwon’s words caught the man’s attention and he finally looked up to pay attention to Hyungwon. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll just get straight to the point. I just need a model for my nude photoshoot that’s for my portfolio in order to pass my internship and I was thinking if I can hire y –”

“No.” The man said as he went back to unwrapping his gum.

Hyungwon was stunned by how fast the man rejected him and he can’t just let his $500 go to waste. He steps closer to the man and rebutted. “I’ll pay you $500 an hour. Please please please just help me out. I’ll not get hired if you don’t.”

“And that’s my business because?” The man asks. “I can’t just let some random stranger take pictures of me naked. What if you spread it to the public? What do I gain out of this anyway?” The man pops the gum into his mouth and stares at Hyungwon with a slightly annoyed look.

“You get money! And you’ll save my live. Please just do it.” Hyungwon kneels on the ground and place his hands together, begging the man to accept his request. The man’s eyes widen in shock at Hyungwon’s gesture and immediately stood up from the bed to grab Hyungwon by the arm, pulling him up to standing position.

“Oh god you don’t have to be so dramatic.” The man said and Hyungwon shoots him his most pitiful look.

“Okay fine. I’ll agree to your proposal but you have to promise me not to do any weird shit to the pictures or you’ll face consequences.” The man complied grudgingly and Hyungwon was too happy to worry about whatever consequences he will face if he ‘does any weird shit to the pictures’.

“Thank you so much erm,” Hyungwon racks his brain to recall the name buff guy called him, “Lee.” He extends out his hand.

“Just call me Minhyuk.” Minhyuk replies and unwillingly returns the gesture.

“I’m Hyungwon.”

“So are we still going to do it or what?” Minhyuk says as he lets go of Hyungwon’s hand.

Hyungwon’s face turns red. “I…uh…I-I think I’ll just…leave.”

“You sure? You paid for this. And you barely stood here for 5 minutes.”

“It’s-It’s fine. I’ll just pick you up tomorrow at 2 here.”

Minhyuk nods in consent and Hyungwon leaves the room, finally feeling like he’s able to breathe properly.

He makes his way downstairs and Changkyun looks at him, surprised. “Not your type?”

“Nah, he’s fine.” Hyungwon replies as he places $300 on the reception counter. Changkyun shoots him a weird look as he leaves the brothel smiling happily.

 

-

 

Hyungwon makes his turn to the alley the second time at exactly 2pm and he sees the white-haired man leaning against the wall beside the door to the brothel and smoking.

This time Minhyuk’s wearing a sweater that has a few slits and holes on it and ripped jeans, which is better than what he wore (or didn’t wear) on their first meeting. Hyungwon gulps as he makes his way to Minhyuk and he can’t believe he’s still nervous even after a day has passed.

“Hey.” He says as he reaches near Minhyuk.

Minhyuk looks up from the floor and then look around. “You don’t drive?”

“I do. My car’s nearby.” Hyungwon walks out of the alley and Minhyuk throws the cigarette stub on the floor and steps on it, following behind Hyungwon afterwards.

“I have to be back by 4.30.” Minhyuk added.

“Got it.”

 

-

 

The car ride was as awkward as Hyungwon imagined it would be. Hyungwon turns on the radio to get rid of the silence but the awkward atmosphere was still bugging him so he stupidly decided to start talking. “So…you are allowed to come out whenever you like?”

“Nope. I snuck out. Changkyun and Hyunwoo love me too much to rat on me.”

 _Hyunwoo must be the buff guy_ , Hyungwon thought. “Rat on you to who?” Hyungwon enquires.

Minhyuk glares at Hyungwon. “Getting too personal here, Hyungwon. I’m just here to do a photoshoot. You are acting like I’m auditioning to be your next boyfriend.”

Hyungwon ignores his harsh tone and beams over the fact that Minhyuk remembers his name. “Sorry.” He replied apologetically. Songs playing from the radio took over the rest of the rid and Hyungwon finally pulls over after 25 minutes.

“Where are we?” Minhyuk asks as he steps out of the car.

“My house.”

“Your house?”

“I can’t afford a shooting location.” Hyungwon explains as he locks his car, ignoring the suspicious look Minhyuk was giving him as they walked to the apartment building.

“You seriously not kidnapping me, are you?” Hyungwon rolls his eyes as the voice behind him spoke, not bothering to reply.

 

-

 

“Take a seat on the couch while I set up the equipment. Do you need anything? A drink?”

“It’s fine, I’m good.” Minhyuk says as he sits down, looking around the house curiously.

A few minutes later, Hyungwon shows Minhyuk to his spare room that has nothing but white walls, a stool and his camera equipment.

“We’ll start off with sitting shots.” Hyungwon says as he turns on the lightings.

Minhyuk nods and proceeds with taking off his sweater. Hyungwon instinctively looks away as he saw Minhyuk’s upper body exposed for one second.

Hyungwon feels his face burning as he hears the sound of buttons and zips. Suddenly, Hyungwon felt that this was indeed a terrible idea and regret was the word to describe how he is feeling.

He takes in deep breaths as he continues messing with the equipment to distract himself when he almost turned around and saw Minhyuk taking off his boxers.

He never dared to take a single look at Minhyuk after the later was wearing none of his clothes and he tries his best to stay extremely focused on changing up the camera settings. He finally forces himself to take a look through the lens and he almost choked on his saliva when he sees a fully naked Minhyuk through the camera for the first time and immediately backed away.

“Uh…I’m going to start. Y-you ready?”

“Yeah.” Minhyuk replies nonchalantly.

Hyungwon had a hard time trying to compose himself and trying not to think about Minhyuk being naked in front of him. After he gave instructions on how Minhyuk should pose (without looking at him), he avoids looking further down his torso the whole time he is snapping pictures. He stopped after a few minutes, turning to the monitor to check on the picture.

Minhyuk steps forward and stands beside Hyungwon and Hyungwon stills instantly, as if Minhyuk froze him on the spot.

“How is it?” Minhyuk asks, staring at the monitor.

“Erm…uh…”

“You stutter a lot, I realise.” Minhyuk says as he continues looking through the pictures. “Why is the lower half of my body cut off in all the pictures? Then what’s the point of me being entirely naked?”

“S-sorry. My bad. Let’s do this again.” Hyungwon avoids looking at Minhyuk and returns to the camera while Minhyuk sits back on the stool.

 

-

 

“This is not working out, Hyungwon. Are you sure you are a professional?”

“I-I’m sorry. It’s just…I can’t…look down…there.” Hyungwon did try to gauge how much he would need to adjust the camera in order to capture Minhyuk’s full body but his gauging skills were proved to be…not so good. Minhyuk rolls his eyes. “We both have dicks for fucks sake. It’s not that difficult to look at someone else’s dick.”

Hyungwon scratches his head awkwardly, feeling embarrassed.

“I need to go soon. Are we going to finish this or not? It’s not gonna work out if you still feel uncomfortable with me.”

“I don’t think I can finish this in time. I guess I’ll need to have you here again.” Hyungwon sighs, feeling exasperated.

Minhyuk grabs his clothing and puts them on as Hyungwon shuts off the equipment. He feels like he can breathe again once Minhyuk was fully clothed.

 

-

 

Hyungwon managed to bring Minhyuk back to the brothel at 3.50 and Minhyuk heaves a sigh of relief as he reaches the door.

“Sorry for wasting your time today.”

“No worries. I’m getting paid anyway.”

They both kept silent and stared into each other eyes. Neither of them broke eye contact even after a long while. Minhyuk inches closer towards Hyungwon face and Hyungwon feels his heartbeat go faster as he feels Minhyuk’s breath on his face. Minhyuk seemed to regain composure soon after (to Hyungwon’s disappointment) and falls back a few steps. “I-I’ll see you again soon? Call me when you need me again. I left my number on a tissue paper in your room.” Minhyuk said and makes his way into the brothel, leaving Hyungwon in a state of confusion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hyungwon's life continues to go haywire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nothing is proofread I swear...

Hyungwon feels like his life is upside down. Things aren’t really going his way lately and he feels like he is the most unlucky person in the world. He still thinks on the bright side and chooses to believe that god is just testing his tolerance. Meeting Minhyuk however, was quite the opposite. It is like a blessing in disguise.

_Do I call him? Should I wait longer? Is he asleep?_

Hyungwon presses the home button on his phone.

 _12am_.

He realises that he has been dumbly pacing around his bedroom, clutching his phone tightly for half an hour now. He feels like he is currently making the most important decision in his life.

_Okay Hyungwon, it’s just a call. You can do this. After all, he was the one that asked you to call him._

Hyungwon mustered all his courage and dials the number he saved in his phone a day ago with shaky hands. Biting his nails out of nervousness, he continues pacing around his room with the phone pressed against his ear.

 

He finally gives up when the same computer voice tells him that the person he’s dialing is not available for the fifth time. He doesn’t even know whether to feel sad or relieved that he does not have to engage in another conversation with Minhyuk.

 _He’s probably asleep._ Hyungwon convinces himself and goes to sleep, trying his best to get rid of the image of that particular white hair man in his mind.

 

-

 

“It has been a week, Kihyun. He hasn’t answered any of my calls.” Hyungwon whines.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to help you anymore. You probably scared him away with your shitting photography skills.” Kihyun said without care as he focuses on opening the pack of chips in his hands, taking a seat on the couch.

Hyungwon’s face falls at the thought of that. _It can’t b_ e.

“He asked me to call him when I need him again. He won’t just leave me in the lurch, right?” He himself doesn’t know why, but he feels that deep down, Minhyuk is kinder than he appears to be.

“You never know. Maybe you just seem too clingy. You should probably just go back there to find him instead of complaining to me about your whole ordeal.” Kihyun now talks with his mouth full of chips.

Hyungwon’s face lights up in realisation and grabs his car keys swiftly. “I will be back asap. Don’t finish my chips. I’ll kill you if you do.”

“Love you too, Hyungwon.”

 

-

 

Hyungwon stares at the entrance.

 _Here I go again_.

Hyungwon walks into the brothel with heavy steps and the same smell strikes him once again. He walks to the counter and sees Changkyun falling asleep on the counter, propping his chin in the palm of his right hand.

“Hey.” Hyungwon said as he knocks on the counter a few times. Changkyun jumps up at the sudden sound and looks around him in daze before rubbing his eyes. His eyes finally focus back on Hyungwon soon after. “Oh hey. Did you book an appointment this time?”

“N-no…I’m just checking if uh…Lee is here. I need to speak to him.”

Changkyun stares at Hyungwon. “Didn’t you leave him after like 10 minutes the previous time you were here?”

“Uh…”

“Okay okay. He’s in but even if he is, you can visit any workers we have here, but him.”

“Why can’t I visit him?” Hyungwon asks, feeling anxious wonders if he did anything to offend Minhyuk, praying that Minhyuk isn’t the one who requested for no visits from Hyungwon.

“You’re Hyungwon, right?” Hyungwon nods his head. “Well…let’s just say he got caught for sneaking out and…you are blacklisted.”

“Blacklisted? Why?” Hyungwon was stunned.

Changkyun shrugs “My boss’s request. I was just told to keep a look out for you. So yeah…you can’t visit him.”

Hyungwon finds the situation ridiculous. “Are all the workers here treated so strictly?”

“Just Lee.” Changkyun yawns, expressing his disinterest in the conversation.

“Why?”

“It is all confidential. Can’t say. Not like I know much either.”

Hyungwon frowns and looks longingly at the stairs that leads to the second level. “Can’t you just let me in for once? Please?”

“Sorry but…it’s the boss’s instruction. I can’t disobey him. It will be like committing suicide.”

“He won’t know. It’s only for a short while. Pleeeeeease.” Hyungwon insists.

Changkyun sighs dejectedly and rolls his eyes. “5 minutes. Make it quick.”

Hyungwon smiles gratefully at Changkyun. “Thanks!”

 

-

 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Minhyuk whispered furiously as he sees the door creak open and Hyungwon walking in.

“Why didn’t you answer my calls?” Hyungwon asks back, ignoring Minhyuk’s question.

“My phone got taken away, dumbass. Did Changkyun let you in? He’s going to get it from me later.”

“It’s not his fault. I begged him to let me in.”

“You _need_ to get out now unless you want to be in your grave early.”

“Why? Is it because of your boss? The one that scolded you for sneaking out? Who exactly is he?”

Minhyuk shoots daggers at Hyungwon. “What did I say about getting too personal? Also, you shouldn’t be here. Just go. _Now_.”

“But you promised to help m –”

“I will keep my promise and I will find a way to contact you okay just get the fuck out of here for now. I’m serious about you getting killed.” Just as Minhyuk finishes his sentence, a loud sound of a car driving in sounds through the entire place. Minhyuk’s eyes widen and he runs to the window, pulling the curtains apart and peeking downstairs.

“Shit.” Minhyuk hisses and pulls the curtain back. “You are nothing but trouble, you know that? Hide under the bed now. Quick.” Minhyuk pushes Hyungwon down to the floor and pushes him under the bed.

“Stay here and _don’_ t make a single sound.” Hyungwon was confused but complied anyway. He grimaces at the horrendous smell that lingers under the bed. It was more disgusting than the smell in the main hall.

After awhile, footsteps could be heard from a distance and it gets louder, followed by the door opening and shutting. “Hey baby.” Hyungwon hears an unfamiliar voice speak. He shudders at the tone of it.

A few seconds later, Hyungwon hears the sound of lips smacking against each other and he cringes.

_Are they…kissing?_

Hyungwon then hears a thud above him and he jumps up in shock, nearly hitting his head on the bed frame.

The kissing sounds continued for a few minutes and someone finally spoke. “Hey, we should…uh…stop.” It was Minhyuk’s voice.

“Why? Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just…I’m hungry.”

He hears a soft shuckle and the bed creaking again. “I’ll bring you to a restaurant nearby to eat. Get dressed properly. I’ll wait for you in my car.” He then hears the door open and close.

“You can come out now.” Minhyuk says, sounding relieved. Hyungwon crawls out of the bed and blushes when he sees Minhyuk’s top fully unbuttoned, as if he had never seen it before. However, there were notable differences on his body this time, like fresh hickeys, fading hickeys, fainted bruise marks.

“Who was that? Is he your boss?” Hyungwon asks as he got up on his feet.

“None of your business. And I’m warning you one last time, don’t ever come here looking for me again.” Minhyuk grabs Hyungwon’s arm and drags him to the door. “You’ll stay here until you hear the car drive away, then you’ll leave for good. Got it?” Hyungwon nods his head repeatedly like a behaved child.

 

-

 

It has been only one day since he met Minhyuk for the second time and he finds himself unconsciously looking at his phone every 10 seconds.

“Dude, stop staring at your phone like you’re in love with it.” Kihyun says.

“If only you will stop stealing chips from my house.” Hyungwon replies, eyes never leaving his phone.

“You will hear the ringtone when he calls, okay? Just give your phone a break. I bet it’s creeped out by now. Even I’m creeped out.”

Hyungwon sighs for the thousandth time and sets his phone on the coffee table. He got the sudden revelation that he really hates waiting.

 

-

 

He wakes up at 4am the next morning to the sound of his phone ringing nosily and vibrating next to him. He grumbles in annoyance and grabs his phone. “Hello…” Hyungwon says groggily.

“Hi Hyungwon.” Hyungwon hears Minhyuk’s voice clearly on the other side of the line and upon recognising that voice, Hyungwon’s eyes shoot open and he sits up. “Minhyuk! Why are you calling at this timing?”

“He is asleep, so I secretly took my phone back to call you.”

“He? The boss?”

 “You are really becoming my mum.” Hyungwon could feel Minhyuk getting annoyed. “I’m just going to make this quick. I can meet you this Saturday because he just told me he’ll be out for a business meeting. So I’ll meet you at the alley at 10 in the morning, okay? Bye.”

“Wait! M –” The line cuts before Hyungwon got to reply.

 

-

 

It has been 13 days since they met when Hyungwon finds Minhyuk naked in his house again.

Hyungwon feels like history is repeating itself all over again when he reviews the first few sets of standing shots he took. He just can’t get it right.

Minhyuk sighs dramatically beside Hyungwon. “Are sure you didn’t get the internship through bribery?”

“I’m usually not this bad, trust me.” Hyungwon replies defensively. He knows that he is underperforming but he doesn’t want to openly blame Minhyuk for it.

“I’m not convinced.” Minhyuk shrugs, grabbing Hyungwon’s cup of water and drinking it as if it is his own but Hyungwon was too concerned about his pictures to notice.

“What’s wrong what’s wrong what’s wrong what’s wrong…” Hyungwon mumbles continuously to himself.

“I told you before, you are just too uncomfortable with me. Maybe you should get another model to do this for you.”

“But I don’t want to.” Hyungwon says subconsciously and covers his mouth after he realised what he just said. Minhyuk rolls his eyes in response, taking Hyungwon’s words as a joke. “Then man up.”

Minhyuk walks back to his position and Hyungwon mentally curses at himself for spouting nonsense.

 

-

 

Hyungwon manages to force himself to look at Minhyuk’s full body after an hour of Minhyuk’s nagging. He still can’t help but blush at the sight of it but Minhyuk didn’t seem to notice it (if he did he’s probably good at hiding it).

“We’re almost done. We need to move on with sitting shots and maybe I’ll revisit the standing shots to perfect them if we have time.” Hyungwon says as he monitors the screen that displays the pictures he took of Minhyuk.

“Hmm.” Minhyuk hums in approval as he joins Hyungwon. Instinctively, Hyungwon shifts away. “I’ll…go get the stool.”

Minhyuk uses his hand to shoo Hyungwon away and Hyungwon walks to his living room to grab the stool from his dining table, carrying it back to the room. He places it in the center of the set and adjusts the stool at a position that he likes.

“Take a seat.” Hyungwon says as he walks back to his camera. Being the dumb person he always has been, he accidentally steps on Minhyuk’s messily discarded clothes. He slips on Minhyuk’s dress shirt and falls forward ungracefully. Luckily for him, Minhyuk was in front of him.

“Woah!” Minhyuk exclaims as he catches Hyungwon by the arms and pulls him up upwards. Hyungwon recovers from shock one second later and looks up in response, only to realise that his face was extremely close to Minhyuk’s a little too late.

Hyungwon refuses to speak because he was afraid to do so. He felt paralyzed as he look into Minhyuk’s eyes and all he could do was continue staring.

Things couldn’t get more awkward as neither of them spoke while the distance between their faces were still close. Just then, the doorbell rings and Hyungwon felt grateful for once that someone was at his door.

“I’ll go get the door.” Hyungwon says after taking a few steps back. He darts out of the room quickly and heads for the door.

He looks through the peephole and sees a stranger at the door. The person obviously wasn’t a delivery man because one, he is not carrying a parcel of any sort and two, he was dressed in a suit, something a delivery man definitely wouldn’t wear.

“Who is it?” Minhyuk asks as he steps out of the room, buttoning his jeans. He pushes Hyungwon aside and looks through the peephole himself.“Fuck.” Minhyuk whispered and started panicking. “I’m going to hide. No matter what you do, don’t let him know I’m here.” He scurries hurriedly to the kitchen before Hyungwon could even respond.

Hyungwon opens the door and the impatient looking man looks at him. “Where is Minhyuk?” The man immediately asks, sounding mildly annoyed. He tries to look behind Hyungwon. His voice rings familiarly in Hyungwon’s head.

“Who are you?”

“I am Lee Hoseok, and Minhyuk belongs to me. Now answer my question, where is he?”

Hyungwon’s brain couldn’t process what this Hoseok guy said but didn’t have time to think that through for now. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You’re very bad at lying. Now tell me where’s he before things get bloody here.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” The uncertainty in Hyungwon’s voice definitely gave him away.

“I’m not going to waste my time on you.” He forcefully pushes past Hyungwon and steps into the apartment looking around.

“You better come out now, Lee Minhyuk. You know the consequences if you disobey me.” The man threatened as he continued his search.

Minhyuk steps out of the kitchen with his head hung low. The man looks up to the sound of Minhyuk’s footsteps and his face darkens. “Why are you topless? Did you have sex with him?”

“I didn’t! I swear.” Minhyuk’s voice dies down towards the end.

The man scowls. “Get back to the brothel with me now. Immediately.” He grabs Minhyuk’s arm before Minhyuk could answer and drags him out of Hyungwon’s apartment.

 

-

 

It is funny how in a span of two weeks, someone can make Hyungwon more nervous than all the times he had to do a presentation in front of a group of people combined. Kihyun gets worried about Hyungwon’s supposed obsession with his phone and tendency to pace around the room for forever.

“I’m getting dizzy.” Kihyun complains as he just watches Hyungwon walk in circles while lying on the couch.

“I have a really bad feeling about this. What if something happens to him?”

“Why do you care so much? He is just a prostitute.”

“This is different! You won’t get it. He just – ugh nevermind.” Hyungwon gives up explaining and continues his walk.

Kihyun just shakes his head disapprovingly at Hyungwon. “You, my friend, are hopeless.” He makes his way back to his room and leaves Hyungwon alone.

When Hyungwon finally do receive a call, he gets shocked by the vibration from his phone. The face of delight quickly turns to disappointment as he saw the caller id.

_Unknown number_

Hyungwon frowns. _It is not Minhyuk_.

He hesitantly picks up the call anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hi Mr. Chae.”

“Who are you?” Hyungwon asks redundantly. He _knows_ that voice.

“Hoseok. The one that took Minhyuk the other day.” Hyungwon could literally hear the smirk in the person’s voice.

“H-how did you get my number?”

“Let’s just say I have my own ways. I shall not waste your time so I’ll cut to the chase. I want to meet you. I’ll text you the time and venue. Don’t be late; I hate people who don’t practice punctuality.” Hoseok hangs up abruptly, just like Minhyuk did the other day and Hyungwon wonders whether Minhyuk learnt it from him.

 

-

 

“Not bad, you are on time.” Hoseok says as Hyungwon takes the seat opposite of him in a café near the brothel.

“I find punctuality important too.” Hyungwon replies.

“Would you like to order any drink?”

Hyungwon feels uncomfortable at how the man seemed so sarcastically nice. “It’s okay. Please make this quick.”

Hoseok grins in return. “I want to know what is your deal with Minhyuk and what you two are up to.”

Hyungwon feels tongue-tied at the direct question and he doesn’t know exactly how he is supposed to answer. “I….um…”

Hoseok looks unamused at Hyungwon’s stuttering, waiting patiently for his answer.

“I…asked him to do a photoshoot for me…”

One of Hoseok’s eyebrows raises. “Photoshoot?”

“Yeah…”

“As his boss, I do not allow him to engage in any external business outside the brothel. So I hope that you understand where I am coming from and will stop seeing him from now on.” Hoseok says, starting to look a little angry.

“But I’m almost fi–”

“No buts.” Hoseok cuts in. “I do not tolerate my workers doing things behind my back.”

Hyungwon feels timid in front of this man. He doesn’t dare to talk back.

“And also, I believe Minhyuk is with you now?”

“Me? No?”

Hoseok glares at him. “I hope you are not lying to me. He ran away and I cannot find him. I highly suspect that he would go looking for you.”

“Well he didn’t and he is not with me.”

“Fine. You better let me know if you ever see him.” Hoseok still eyes Hyungwon suspiciously before leaving.

Hyungwon takes a few minutes to process everything that just happened and what went on with the conversation. He recollects his thoughts and his subconscious screams at him, reminding him that Minhyuk is missing. Minhyuk ran away.

And if he still wants Minhyuk, he needs to find him before Hoseok does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I suck at updating. I promise I'll be more consistent after my major exams are over.  
> Also, as always, lemme know what u think!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hyungwon didn't expect it to be so easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- back with this after a year ++  
> \- changed abit of the first two chapters  
> \- this sucks

When Hyungwon told Kihyun about his plans to find Minhyuk, all Kihyun could do is laugh at the other’s stupidity. Hyungwon can’t blame him though, because it really sounds like a joke. He barely knows Minhyuk as a person, why does he care about Minhyuk’s whereabouts? Also how can he possibly know where to search for Minhyuk when he has zero clue about where he would escape to? Seoul is a huge place and Hyungwon has no idea where he’s supposed to start finding. He wonders if the desolation he felt was because he can’t submit his portfolio or it’s because of Minhyuk.

There were a few times where he tried getting on his car, drive around Yongsan and maybe, just maybe, he can spot Minhyuk somewhere on the streets. After spinning rounds aimlessly, he concluded that Minhyuk isn’t that stupid to show up on the streets to get caught by Hoseok.

Hyungwon hears the sound of his door opening. The light footstep sounds gets louder and a voice disturbs the serene environment Hyungwon had been in for almost forever. “Hyungwon, you having been lying on your bed for the past 24 hours. Your bed is probably on fire now.” A vigorous shake on his shoulder accompanied the sentences and Hyungwon shrugs the annoying hand off.

“Don’t bother me.” Hyungwon grumbles and turns away from Kihyun. He has no energy to get up, not until he can think of a way to find Minhyuk.

“Instead of rotting in bed, why not get up and do something productive?”

“Like what?”

“Like going to the convenient store and help me buy some snacks and coffee. I’m really rushing for a submission and I need those to survive the night but I can’t waste time by walking ther –”

“No.” Hyungwon finally spares a look, shooting a glare at Kihyun.

“But you’re obviously free right now! Pleaseeeee –”

“Ugh fine. You are noisy.” Hyungwon stretches out his hand and Kihyun slaps some dollar bills on Hyungwon’s hand. “Thanks! You’re the best.” Kihyun happily skips back to his room and Hyungwon groans into the pillow before painfully forcing himself out of bed.

 

-

 

It’s 2am and Hyungwon feels like death despite being in bed for longer than enough. He pulls up the hood of his sweatshirt to hide his ridiculous bed hair and makes his way to the nearest convenient store like a zombie. The nearest convenience store isn’t even near; it’s a 15 minutes’ walk from his apartment. Hyungwon can barely stand on his two feet for 5.

He steps into the convenience store and the door chime rings. The cashier doesn’t even spare a glance but he understands graveyard shifts can be a pain in the ass. Hyungwon makes his way to the beverage coolers and grabs two cans of expresso. He then walks towards the snacks isle, eyeing the different brands of chips displayed. Just as Hyungwon reached out for the sour cream chips, someone started screaming and Hyungwon almost dropped the items wrapped in his arms.

“I’m calling the police!” Hyungwon heard and he peeked from the corner of the shelf to see the cashier grasping tightly onto a person’s wrist. The back view and white hair of that person is oddly familiar.

“Pft.” The person mocks the cashier, as if the police doesn’t scare him. Hyungwon runs towards them and pulls out the money Kihyun gave him. “Sorry, I think you’ve mistaken. I’m paying for him.”

The cashier gives the thief a nasty once over before snatching Hyungwon’s cash in annoyance. Upon receiving his change, Hyungwon quickly grabbed the other’s hand and drags him out of the store.

“You could’ve just let him take me to jail you know. That’s the whole point.” Minhyuk forcefully shakes Hyungwon’s hand off him.

“Why did you steal?” Hyungwon asks, ignoring Minhyuk’s deadly glare.

“One,” Minhyuk holds up one finger, “I have no money and I am hungry. Two,” Minhyuk lifts another finger, “I would rather go to jail than be homeless because at least there’s food and shelter.” He puts his hand down and crosses his arms, sulking.

Hyungwon wonders why he cares so much about Minhyuk when all Minhyuk does is exasperate him. “You ran away from the brothel, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Did that Hoseok guy do something to you? Why did you run away?”

“He didn’t do anything.” Minhyuk shakes his head in denial and Hyungwon sighs. “Why don’t you stay at my house for awhile? Until you decide that you want to go back.”

“I don’t want to burden you.” Minhyuk’s voice becomes so small.

“You won’t.” Hyungwon takes Minhyuk hand in his again. “Come on, you said you are starving.”

Minhyuk willingly let’s himself get dragged this time.

 

“What does Hoseok want from you?” Hyungwon asks again out of the blue, breaking the serene silence during the walk back. The question is still burning in his head.

Minhyuk’s eyebrows knitted and he ignores Hyungwon blatantly.

“Minhyuk, please.”

“Stop asking about Hoseok. The more you know, the deeper you will be in trouble. And I don’t want to be getting you into trouble.” Minhyuk uses that icy tone that Hyungwon is afraid of. It makes him feel extremely distant from Minhyuk.

Not a single word was spoken afterwards, and they didn’t let go of each other’s hands until they reached Hyungwon’s apartment.

 

-

 

Hyungwon opens the door and they step into the apartment. He gestures Minhyuk to sit at the couch before walking to Kihyun’s room. He quietly opens the door, peeking into the room to see Kihyun staring intensely at his computer screen.

“Kihyun,” Hyungwon said as gently as possible, “I have something to tell you.”

“What?” Kihyun says, eyes not leaving his homework.

“I’m going to let my friend stay here with us for awhile.”

Kihyun turns back to face Hyungwon, looking at him like he’s crazy. “What?”

“Uh…Minhyuk doesn’t really wanna go…home now so I’m letting him stay here until he wants to.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t ask for my consent before bringing him home!”

“It was impromptu!” Hyungwon rebutted.

“But we have no extra bed for him to sleep in.”

“I can sleep on the couch.”

“You’re letting him sleep on your bed? But you never let your bed go. The last time I repainted my room you refused to let me sleep on your bed with you.” Kihyun shoots Hyungwon a dirty look. “You must be really taken with him, aren’t you?”

“Shut up Kihyun. I promise I’ll pay his part of the utility bills, okay? Bye!” Hyungwon tries to run out of the room before Kihyun can protest further but he still got called back before he could even close the door. “Wait! Where are the stuff I asked you to get for me?”

Hyungwon eyes widen in sudden realisation and groans. “Fuck my life.”

 

-

 

It takes two trips to the convenient store and ten minutes of convincing Minhyuk to take his bed to knock Hyungwon out. He falls into a deep slumber soon after he lies down on the couch, only to be woken up by something shaking his shoulder. It is definitely annoying, and Hyungwon holds back the urge to hit whatever is interrupting his sleep. He slowly opens his eyes.

“Minhyuk? What are you doing?” He pulls out his phone that is squashed under his body to check the time. The bright screen blinds his eyes painfully. “It’s already 4am. Aren’t you tired?” Hyungwon asks and sits up, looking at Minhyuk who is sitting crossed-legged on the floor and staring at him like a lost puppy.

“I can’t sleep.” Minhyuk confesses and Hyungwon frowns. “Aren’t you tired?”

Minhyuk doesn’t answer the question and Hyungwon stares at him pick at his nails during the long silence before he spoke up. “Can you sleep with me?”

 

-

 

It’s probably 12pm, the hottest time of the day when Hyungwon wakes up to the blazing sun shining brightly on his face. He feels Minhyuk all curled up and head pressed against his chest. He is slightly embarrassed by the position they are in and he doesn’t want Minhyuk to wake up to this as well, just in case he regrets asking Hyungwon to sleep with him and feels repulsed at waking up to the sight of Hyungwon’s morning face. He carefully detaches himself from Minhyuk and gets out of bed, making his way to the toilet.

 

Kihyun has already headed to school long ago and Hyungwon settles on ordering take outs for him and Minhyuk.

“I was thinking I can bring you out for shopping today.” Hyungwon says when Minhyuk sits beside him on the couch with the take out in his hand.

“You know I don’t have money on me.”

“I can pay for you.”

“You are a student on internship. That’s equivalent to being a broke adult. You can’t afford to quote unquote pay for me. Although, I hope you remember you owe me some money from the photoshoot.”

Hyungwon does not want to remember that.

“If you don’t get clothes, you won’t have anything to change into.”

“I can steal yours.”

Hyungwon almost shuts down at the thought of Minhyuk wearing his clothes. “Y-you sure?” Hyungwon asks and Minhyuk shrugs. “Whatever.”

 

-

 

Hyungwon hates the fact that he enjoys the sight of Minhyuk in his collection of hoodies.

Minhyuk would look like he is drowning in the hoodies that are already too big for Hyungwon and it’s adoring to look at.

He was, however, appalled when he saw the waistband of the boxers peeking out of his track pants that Minhyuk was wearing.

“Are those, my pair of boxers?” Why does Hyungwon always ask questions that he knows the answer to.

“I thought I made it clear that we are sharing clothes.” Minhyuk says, not looking away from his phone.

If Kihyun is in Hyungwon’s shoes, he will probably faint from shock.

 

Hyungwon also hates the fact that he slowly got roped into sleeping together with Minhyuk.

In his defence, he got sick of Minhyuk waking him up every night when he was sleeping on the couch. In the end, he would get woken up from the couch and end up sleeping in his own bed with Minhyuk so he might as well sleep in his bed from the start.

Kihyun walked into Hyungwon’s room one morning to steal his hair wax and was in disbelief at the scene in front of him.

“Hyungwon, are you and your so-called friend…dating?” Kihyun asks while having dinner with Hyungwon and Minhyuk is in the shower.

“What? Minhyuk? Of course not.”

Kihyun picks up his phone from the table and taps a few times before shoving it in Hyungwon’s face.

It’s a picture of them huddling together in their sleep.

Hyungwon pushes the phone away from his face. “You can’t control what you do in your sleep, okay? I swear we have nothing going on.” Hyungwon reasons out firmly despite his cheeks turning slightly red.

Kihyun doubts Hyungwon’s words as much as any person would if they see what Kihyun saw.

And Hyungwon secretly wants that picture in his phone.

 

-

 

Hyungwon does bring Minhyuk out eventually despite both of their hatred for getting out of the house. Hyungwon thought the other might enjoy some free time and have fun before getting trapped in that jail-like brothel again.

(Although the thought of Minhyuk leaving him is depressing so he suppresses in at the back of his head.)

It took Hyungwon half his energy to convince Minhyuk to get out of blanket he was hiding under and the other half to yank him out of the house. Despite Minhyuk’s initial unwillingness to go out, he ended up being the one dragging Hyungwon around the shopping mall like an excited child after they had lunch.

 

Minhyuk stops on his track when they end up in front of the arcade. He lets go of Hyungwon’s hand in favour of cupping the sides of his face to look past the translucent door.

“You want to play?” Hyungwon asks and hears his wallet screaming at him in protest.

Minhyuk’s eyes light up as he turns to look at Hyungwon. “Can I?”

“Go ahead.” Hyungwon smiles reassuringly and Minhyuk almost squeals in excitement, pushing the door open with one hand and pulling Hyungwon along with the other.

After watching Minhyuk run around the arcade enthusiastically, he convinces himself that it is worth his money to make Minhyuk smile – a rare (and pretty) sight that he should treasure.

Anyway, he can just steal some of the bills Kihyun leaves lying around or starve to death. Everything will be fine.

 

-

 

That night, Minhyuk starts speaking once Hyungwon slides into bed. Hyungwon jumped a little when he hears Minhyuk’s voice because he never initiates a conversation with Hyungwon. “I met Hoseok when I was seventeen.” Hyungwon turns to look at Minhyuk who is staring up at the ceiling. “I was out alone, roaming around the streets because I don’t have a home. My dad died when I was young and my mum was a crackhead who can barely take care of herself, let alone me.”

Minhyuk fidgets around and Hyungwon can tell Minhyuk is uncomfortable with sharing his story. “I left her and thought I would okay on my own by stealing from shops to survive. So I did that for a while until one day Hoseok caught me stealing from a store. He pulled me aside once I got out and I thought he was going to take me to the police. But he didn’t. He talked to me nicely, offered me a place to stay and said he would pay for my expenses. It sounded like it could be a scam but anyone in my shoes would probably take up that offer. I had nothing to lose anyway.” Minhyuk finally looks at Hyungwon. “He sounds like a saint, doesn’t he?” The latter nods silently, waiting for Minhyuk to continue his story.

“He really is. I got really excited and didn’t too much about it so I just followed him. I remember I was so happy that night when he brought me to the building and put me into that room. I had a proper shower, I got a closet of clothes and a bed to sleep in. It was the best feeling ever.”

“That only lasted for about 3 days until he walked into my room with another stranger, told me he is my first client and said ‘this is how you will pay me back.’” Minhyuk shuts his eyes, looking like he is in pain and it makes Hyungwon’s heart constrict in pain as well.

“It was so scary and I cried so much but afterwards he kissed me and told me he loves me so I kept telling myself it was fine since I do owe him a lot. I persevere through my days knowing at the back of my head that Hoseok loves me.”

Hyungwon asks the question he’s afraid of knowing the answer to. “Do you like him?”

“I _love_ him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im about to delet this fic i rly hate it

**Author's Note:**

> leave comments n kudos!!! lemme know what u guys think


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